Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sunday Prayer Proper 20C, a lament

God of all that is, was, and will be
Have mercy on me
As I stumble, lost
In my ways,
Ignorant of what I’ve done,
Now, dismay has taken a hold of me.

Have mercy on us, heart sick are we,
Whose joy is gone
With grief upon us
We mourn, for dismay has taken a hold of us.

Defiled are we, buying the poor for silver
The needy for sandals,
Our pockets full,
Theirs empty, and
Now, dismay has taken a hold of me.

Is there no balm to soothe this sin sick world?

Gracious God who lifts
The needy and raises the poor
Who urges within us

Have mercy on us, hear our prayers
May the intercessions in my heart
Become the actions of my hands
May our feet move out of the ash heap
May we work to restore hope
May we work to restore justice
May we work to restore love
May we be bear the balm that soothes
As you would have us do
And may there be thanks-givings for everyone.
Amen.

5 comments:

Well. This may not be the prayer folks were hoping for this morning. Even as I read it again....curious to me what the scripture is pulluing out of me, as I parse together prayer/poems from snippets of the scripture. I guess it's like Lent, only a couple of seasons early. Nonetheless, this is the prayer that spoke through me. I hope it speak to you in some manner....